Knysna

Two sandstone cliffs guard the lagoon mouth and the current between them runs hard. A road climbs the eastern one to a lookout.

The boat crosses the lagoon to the cliffs and turns back. The water is calm, so it stays steady, and it passes the oyster beds.

Only a boat reaches this private reserve on the western cliff. Walking down from the top takes in a sea cave.

One of the few native forests left in the country grows very tall here. Old logging tracks are cycled and some come looking for signs of elephant.

Three swaying bridges cross a river mouth toward the cliff. Waves surge underneath and throw spray upward.

Injured elephants and those with nowhere to go are kept here. Food is laid on an open palm and the trunk lifts it away.

Five lakes run parallel to the sea and channels join them. A canoe is paddled through the narrow cuts between them.

Mesh bags hang in the lagoon and the oysters grow inside them. A boat goes out, a bag is hauled up and one is opened on the spot.

A jump on a cord goes from a bridge 216 metres up. A walkway under the deck carries people out to the middle.

A river bend has shaped the land into something close to the outline of the continent. A hilltop lookout gives the view down onto it.

A timber-mill island linked up by canals and bridges and turned into a quarter of homes and shops. The old power station became a hotel with its boilers and turbines left in place. Waterside paths along the canals lead to the restaurant quays on the lagoon.

A lagoon islet reached by causeway, with a walk right round its shore. The Knysna seahorse, found only here and in a few other estuaries, lives in the seagrass below. At low tide sandbanks surface and you can wade far out toward the Heads.

A handful of stone houses built like castles stand on the sand of a small cove. They went up as holiday homes in the 1930s and are still lived in, so the insides are off limits. A steep track leads down to the sand, and the climb back is tougher.

A forest gold camp boomed in the 1880s and emptied within a few years once the gold gave out. Old adits, rusting machinery and a small cemetery remain among the trees. A short forest trail follows Jubilee Creek past the old panning spots.

A rocky finger reaching seaward from Plettenberg Bay; the complete circuit is a half-day hike. Cape fur seals crowd the rocks below. The path passes Nelson Bay Cave, an ancient dwelling site; rocky stretches get risky at high tide, so check the tables.

A market in Sedgefield held on Saturday mornings only, where nearby farms bring what they grow and bake. Bread, cheese, pies and flowers are bought and often eaten on the spot. Much sells out early, so turn up at opening to have a real choice.

A small Norman-style stone church, built in 1855 by the local landowning family. Trees surround it on a slope above the lagoon; inside are little but timber beams and stained glass. Sunday services are still held, so skip sightseeing then.